Improvement in pigeon-traps



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

wILEUR E. PARKER, 0E MERrDEN, coNNEeTIcUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIGEON-TRAPS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 140,532,'.dated July 1, 1873; application filed May 23, 1873.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILBUR F. PARKER, of Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Pigeon-Trap and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same', and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a perspective view; and in Fig. 2, a vertical central section, illustrating the operation.

This invention relates to an improvement in what are known as pigeon-traps-that is to say, a trap in which a pigeon is secured preparatory to being let loose for shooting and sporting purposes.

These traps are of two classes, what are known as ground and plunger traps. The latter usually consists of four sides hinged to a base and forming, when closed, a pyramid. Within and upon the bottom a follower is arranged, by the raising of which the sides are raised so as to open the trap for the escape of the pigeon. As the follower can beno larger than the internal dimensions of the inclosure it is not able to carry the sides beyond a perpendicular, depending, therefore, upon their momentum for the full opening; and, when the follower is thrown up, if the sides do not open they often interfere with the escape of the bird or with the shooting 5 moreover, the sides are liable to fall back beneath the follower, so as to require manipulation in the return of the follower. In ground-traps, which are generally made square, where there is no follower the sides, when open, are at upon the ground; hence two distinct traps are used, as heretofore constructed.

The object of this invention is to combine in one a plunger-and ground-trap; and it consists, rst, in providing the hinged sides of an ordinary plunger-trap with internal projections, so that the follower in rising will strike theseprojections and throw them so far beyond a perpendicular that they will fall wide open 5 second, in combining with the follower a stop which will arrest the follower when it has been raised. sufficiently high to serve the purpose of a ground-trap.

` A is the base arranged upon a post, B, and at the edge of the base the triangular-shaped sides C are hinged, so that when closed together they form a pyramid, as seen in Fig. l. The post B is made hollow, and within this a spindle, D, is arranged, and upon the upper end of this spindle a false floor or follower, E, is attached. This follower is raised by means of a cord, F, in substantially the usual manner. As the extreme dimensions of this follower can be no larger than the distance between opposite sides, as seen in Fig. 2, in raising it would only open the sides to a vertical position, as seen in Fig. 2 5 but, to insure the opening of the sides of the trap, I arrange upon the inner surface of each side a projection, H, so that as soon as the follower A strikes these projections it will throw them past the perpendicular, and the quick upward movement of the follower to the position denoted in broken lines, Fig. 2, will, by means of these projections, instantly throw the sides wide open, so that when the follower is thrown to its full height, as for a plunger-trap, there will be no liability of the sides falling back beneath the follower. For a ground-trap in which it is required that the follower be raised as little as possible and only sufficiently to open the trap, I arrange a stop, L, in connection with tlie follower, which will arrest the upward movement of the follower so soon as it shall have reached the extreme point of the projections H, or so soon as it shall have acted upon the said projections suiiiciently to open wide the sides; hence, when the the follower is down upon the base, the sides closed inclosing the bird upon the follower, a pull upon the cord F raises the follower to that defined point, throwing open the covers and exposing the bird. The stop L should be ot such a nature that it may be easily removed, andto this end I make it in the form of a headed bolt, as seen in Fig. 2; but other stops may be arranged to accomplish the same purpose-that is, the arrest of the follower when it shall have been raised to the height desirable for a ground trap.

I claim as my inventionl. In a trap consisting of the hinged sides follower, so as to arrest the upward move- C, and a follower E, the projections H upon ment of the follower at a certain defined point, the inner surface of the said sides, substansubstantially as described.

tially as and for the purpose specified. WILBUR F. PARKER.

2. In a trap consisting of the hinged sides Witnesses: C, with the projections H and follower E, a OHAs. L. TAYLOR,

stop, L, urrztn ged in connection with the said J. H. BECKETT. 

